Father Joe to Receive Statewide Non-Profit Leadership Award
St. Vincent’s Staff Deserve Accolades, says Father Joe

   SAN DIEGO — Father Joe Carroll, president of St. Vincent de Paul Village, has been selected to receive the California Association of Nonprofit’s (CAN) Excellence in Leadership Award on Thursday, Nov. 8, at a luncheon at the San Francisco Airport Marriot.

   The award is given to "a leader who has demonstrated excellence in non-profit management, with accomplishments in areas of innovative problem-solving, creativity and positive impact on their (sic) organization and community."

   Under Father Joe’s 19 years of leadership, St. Vincent’s has grown from what once was a soup kitchen to the largest homeless rehabilitation center on the West Coast and the most successful in the nation. Housing more than 855 people nightly – 160 of them children – the Village provides much more than a Band-Aid effect for people seeking self-sufficiency and stability.

   With a full-service children’s center, job training, adult-education courses, counseling, medical and dental clinic, chemical-dependency classes, residential services and two dining rooms providing 3,500 meals daily, St. Vincent’s has been a leader in providing everything children, families and individuals need to get back on their feet – all on one site.

   "I think people see Father Joe on TV and associate him with homeless outreach," says Village Vice President Mary Case. "But I don’t think most people realize the magnitude and importance of the programs and services Father Joe has helped to create and bring to St. Vincent’s.

   "We’re so much more than three hots and a cot; lives are changed everyday at St. Vincent’s and we wouldn’t be in a position to help needy people without him."

   Father Joe was quick to point out that while his name may be on the award, the recognition is a testament to the hard work of a much larger group."

   "I walk down the streets and people stop and tell me, ‘Thank you so much for all of your hard work.’ But the people who really make the difference are our staff who positively impact the lives of our clients, and the clients themselves who are my personal heroes."

   For more information on the award or St. Vincent de Paul Village, call (619) 525-1608.

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